This holiday is for enjoying a delicious sweet and nutty slice of "pecan Pie." It doesn't matter if you like to bake it with dark corn syrup or light, just know that today is the day to remember that traditional taste of the holidays and eat that pecan pie! Try a new recipe if you like. You can find many different varieties that include chocolate cream cheese or even other types of nuts. Have fun with this holiday and share a slice with all your friends. And remember, don't wait until Christmas or Thanksgiving to enjoy this pie. It has it's own day so celebrate it.

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Origin of this Holiday?

Our research did not find the creator, or the origin of this day.

This holiday is referred to as a "National" day. However, we did not find any congressional records or presidential proclamations for this day. Even though we didn't, this is still a holiday that is publicized to celebrate. So have fun with it and celebrate it!

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What is Pecan Pie?

Pecan pie is a sweet custard pie made primarily of corn syrup and pecan nuts. It is popularly served at holiday meals and is also considered a specialty of Southern U.S. cuisine. Most pecan pie recipes include salt and vanilla as flavorings. Other ingredients such as chocolate and bourbon whiskey are popular additions to the recipe. Some recipes even use an amount of maple syrup instead of corn syrup for flavoring. Pecan pie is often served with whipped cream. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

What are Pecans? Nuts!

The name "pecan" is a Native American word of Algonquin origin that was used to describe "all nuts requiring a stone to crack.”

1 Preheat oven to 375°F. Spread pecans along the bottom of the pie shell. Mix the remaining ingredients and pour over pecans. The pecans will rise to the surface of the pie.

2 Bake at 375°F for 45-50 minutes until the filling has set. About 20 minutes into the cooking you may want to use a pie crust protector, or tent the edges of the pie crust with aluminum foil to prevent the pie crust edges from burning.

3 Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Serves 8.

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New Orleans Pecan Pie

Tradition holds that the French created pecan pie soon after settling in New Orleans, after being introduced to the nut by Native Americans. It is sometimes referred to as "New Orleans pecan pie," adding an aura of French cuisine to a home-cooked comfort food. Attempts to trace the origin have, however, not found any recipes earlier than 1925, and well-known cookbooks such as Fannie Farmer and The Joy of Cooking did not include it before 1940.

The process for refining corn sugar was not developed until the 1880s. Thus, the corn syrup which is considered an essential part of the modern recipe was not available to the settlers of New Orleans.

There is no doubt that the makers of Karo syrup popularized the dish, and many recipes—even one ascribed to a well-known New Orleans restaurant—specify Karo syrup by name as an ingredient. This suggests a prosaic 20th-century origin in Karo promotion, and in fact the maker's website currently credits the dish as a 1930s "discovery" of a "new use for corn syrup" by a corporate sales executive's wife. The company asserts that "Down South, today, that same recipe continues to be called Karo Pie" but in fact this name for the dish seems to be rare.

Although the standard recipes call for corn syrup, cookbook author Mark Bittman comments "There are two kinds of pecan pie, one of which contains not only sugar but corn syrup. I don't like this version—not only is it too sweet, if you taste corn syrup by itself you'll never cook with it again." The version he favors uses white and brown sugar, no corn syrup, and "thickens the sugar with eggs—in other words, it's a custard pie, loaded with pecans."

Jim Turner of Glencoe, Alabama developed a recipe for making pecan pies with sorghum syrup.

Pecan tassies, another Southern specialty, are similar to pecan pie, but are miniature portions. In addition, many recipes for pecan tassies differ in the inclusion of cream cheese in the crust and omission of corn syrup from the filling.

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Pecan Tassies

Small pecan pies...very flaky. Made in small muffin tins...like a cookie."

2. Shape into 24 balls. Press balls into cavity of mini muffin tins, making small cups.

3. To Make Filling: Beat together egg, brown sugar and 1 tablespoon butter. Add vanilla and salt and beat till smooth. In each little crust bottom, sprinkle chopped pecans, add egg mixture to right before top and top with a whole pecan.